There is really nothing generic about Generic Surplus. Sure, the styles are always clean, timeless, and always wearable, but there is always an element of surprise built into the classic styles. For Spring 2011, Generic Surplus remixes some of footwear’s classic styles with fresh details, materials and colorway to add that extra je ne sais quoi. For instance, slip on shoes are ventilated and casual in a perforated waved fabric upper, and the recent favorite of desert boots married the chukkah and moccasin for a new outdoor hybrid. Other interesting items include boat shoes in new fabric uppers rendered in a taller mid-top, and rubber toe capped sneakers get a little blue in a new canvas upper as well. Check out the preview from Compass trade show, and stay tuned for these to be hitting racks next year!

If there’s anything that should be duly celebrated in this complicated time, it should be humble elegance and understated luxury; and in terms of men’s accessories, no one does it like Mismo.

The Danish brand debuted its first premium leather collection in 2006, and has since maintained its flair for straightforward yet versatile designs. It is a fairly new, rather small but extremely dedicated and product focused brand. Its philosophy—“luxury arises from the choices made- about what to subtract and what should remain” permeates through all pieces.

Mismo eliminates all unnecessary decors and retains only the most functional and essential of its designs. The same goes with the materials they use to relate them—natural materials with minimal chemical processing. Their favorite, of course, is delicately crafted premium leather, as used in the handles and trimmings in the M/S Canvas collection, and artfully pressed Full Grain collection of leather goods ranging from laptop protectors to hold-alls. These items will last you through several seasons in terms of design as well as quality.

This season, Mismo expands the collection and introduced new silhouettes that cater to your gadget’s needs, including iPhone cases, backpacks made in a classic camping pack silhouette and extra-volume totes. Mismo is available at fine retailers such as colette, so stay tuned for the items’ releases next season!

Hawaiian shirts in the concrete jungle? Insanity? Or confident people who can still hang ten despite the locale? Heritage Hawaiian shirt maker, Reyn Spooner, has proven that it is more than just a purveyor of tourist goods, and won over retailers and fashion critics from the tough New York City crowd and beyond at (capsule) for a while. Exactly how does a Reyn Spooner keep people hooked? Yes, the hang-ten spirit that everyone who works a nine-to-five job in the cubicle probably craves will want that floral print short-sleeved button down for the weekend. But, the best thing about Reyn Spooner is the details. Instead of simply printing a large piece of fabric and turning the print into a shirt that can be found anywhere along Canal Street, Reyn Spooner puts its own spin on the Hawaiian shirt by turning it inside out. The fabric is given a subtle touch by simply flipping the prints and fabric over, so the brighter shades stay on the down low inside. Also prep’s favorite critter embroidery reappears with marine motifs such as swordfish. We didn’t event get to the best part yet. Some of the prints are either ethnically inspired or drawn from Japanese traditional prints. Check out some of the short-sleeved button downs in Reyn Spooner’s famed inside-out prints, and summer surf shorts for next year. Whoever said Hawaiian shirts are for well-past middle age men who don’t know any better should think again.

There is something rather intriguing about North Carolina-born designer, Mark McNairy, and namely, his ability to transgress through boundaries and limits within menswear. To this effect, McNairy is one of the few designers whose creations can be found in the prim, traditional menswear realm of Barneys, and also the hip, unrestrained Alife on the equally charmed Lower East Side.

His portfolio reflects just that sense of ease in segueing through different levels of menswear, effectively challenging our idea that there might still be viable categorization in the field. After working at J. Press, collaborating with Engineered Garments and starting his eponymous label just January of last year, McNairy has expanded into different ventures, including succeeding Daiki Suzuki who had an extremely successful run as Creative Director of Woolrich Woollen Mills, and now, a collaboration with Bass Weejuns. On his home front, he has been liberally updating traditional mens footwear such as brogues, bucks and boots with more energetic designs that are nonetheless, lasting both physically and stylistically, and will be expanding into apparel and accessories next year.

For a few seasons now, one of the most celebrated and watched New York-based menswear label, Duckie Brown, spearheaded by designer duo Steven Cox and Daniel Silver, has been working with heritage footwear maker, Floresheim to create shoes for their collection. For Fall/Winter 2010, the silhouette and designs are kept classic in brogue with meticulous detailing and perforated patterns, but like the duo’s signature design move, the collection is a rainbow of brights. Traditional brogue shoes have been made over in color-happy suede, ranging from hot pink to sun yellow and electric blue.

Sure, the duo is not about to eschew making colors acceptable and wearable for men, and for Spring/Summer 2011, has taken it one step further by adding a magical metallic touch to orange brogue shoes. However, at the (capsule) NYC show yesterday, we have spotted some new designs details that are so subtle yet hits just the right refreshing spot. In comes supple suede chukkah loafers with a moccasin toe, and lo and behold– tassel details peeking out from under the tongue. The same mid-top silhouette is preserved in other models, but given a weaved touch all-over, including the circumvent from toe to heel.

After a few seasons of boat show revivals and desert boots, it is interesting to see something new on the market, but at the same time, not outrageously and unwearably so. We can already imagine a Italian vacation of sorts in this, can’t you?

It seems slightly depressing to discuss two labels where their ingenious and respected founders have left the building on the same day, but there is certainly quite interesting to compare how the labels have fared since their masterminds have departed. While Alexander McQueen has suffered some criticism from the fashion world of newly appointed Creative Director, Sarah Burton, Maison Martin Margiela seems to be doing fine without a replacement head–which was Diesel Group’s decision. The team who has worked for years with Margiela though, remains intact, and that perhaps explains the thriving, Spring/Summer 2011 collection from MMM.

When the collection was first shown in Paris, Martin Margiela’s famed whimsical avant garde concept lives on as the presentation makes use of both filmed models and their live counterparts juxtaposed against the MMM signature white backdrop. An exploration of presence and absence pushes the show into a new metaphorical wonderment. Here, Maison Martin Margiela staff clad in white coats convey the true spirit of deconstructionism by simply holding up a tattered white sheet as the backdrop for a collection that may come across as slightly plain and understated, but actually focuses on the intricacies of using strange materials.

Strange materials, eh? How does a pliable thin panel of wood to replace the usual fabric cummerbund sound? Lapels have been deemed unnecessary extensions of a blazer, and hence courageously eliminated. But, to replace the absence of lapels comes leather stripes that hang down as a somber stand-in. Vests are made from intricate fowl feather, and chambray button downs no longer need the sides stitched together– why not let it hang all out and flap in the wind? The same pliable wood has been made into vests as well, and leather jackets will no longer be a boon in the summer because it has been cut out to resemble a bondage cage. While the color is muted and silhouettes remain more or less subtle, the Maison Martin Margiela artisans have perhaps ventured into a collection of “why not” and decided to push boundaries through little details. We are sure, somewhere, Margiela would be proud.